This is what we started with...

Then I painted the 'brick' and changed out the hardware...

And changed out the lighting...

Then the counter tops, sink and faucet, microwave...

I had hoped that the new counters would make my thin, oak with veneer inlay cabinets look better. But all I saw was the competition from the cabinet grainy stripes to the granite and thought they took away from the granite. I dreaded painting, but figured that was the next step. Thanks to this WONDERFUL website, I looked into jel stain. They're not perfect, but they'll do...

It's hard to get a 'true' photo of the detail, but I didn't want the cabinets to look painted - I wanted to see the warmth of the original stain...

I never could have tacked this without this site so I wanted to post my before and afters to contribute. I'd still like to do some sort of trim on top of the cabs, but DH thinks they look fine so we'll see. We also need new flooring but are waiting until summer is over.

THANK YOU for the wonderful contributors to this awesome site. :)

Laurie

Not sure what our granite is technically called. We used a remnant from an installer and he called it 'desert sand' but I could never find it online.?

We are debating taking out a wall in our kitchen because we have so little room for our table. House is pretty small and it's the only eating area. Which is another reason for stalling on the floor till we figure it out. lol. It would mean lots of new flooring.
Here's the wall and the other side of our tiny kitchen...

please excuse the mess.

and the other side of the wall...

Hence my 'projectsneverend' name!! Sigh.

One thought on opening the wall between the LR and kitchen. We have an open floor plan at the beach house, and while I love that everyone hangs out together, the constant drone of the TV and general shannigans of the kids starts to wear thin to me while cooking. It makes a great vacation atmosphere but I'm not sure I could deal with it all of time. It would look great though.

cheri127 - thanks for the input on the wall. I can definitely see that getting to me. It's a toss up, though. We're constantly banging into that wall with the chairs and there's no way to fit anything larger. When we have company, space is very limited.

The little girl pic was actually a greeting card I framed. It is cute and I need to find a new home for it now!

Another thought I've had is to build or buy a nook in order to use the space better, more seating and less movement of the chairs. DH, however, is not sold.

Also, love the red wall...I adhere to the rule that every room should have some red in it!

Lastly, I love seeing re-dos that focus on using what you have, re-purposing, recyling... Too often, people tend to fall into the the 'I gotta' have mega$$$ to do ______.' It's refreshing & inspiring to see posts & projects like yours!

I came up with the plate rack because we moved the micro over the range to free counter space and the uppers had to change size to make room.

I agonized over what to do and where to start for a few years. Once I painted the 'brick', there was no turning back!

Very inspiring and a wonderful job! Thanks for sharing.

SO happy to see another gel stain rescue. They came out just gorgeous. And the matte pewter tone hardware (completely different from my shiny pulls) looks great. Another win for the recycle/reuse/renew approach.

PS thank you to csquared for emailing me, as I completely missed this thread.

What color gel-stain did you use? I have some bathroom cabinets I'd like to transform and the color you chose would be perfect.

I know you're waffling on the trim issue with DH so I just wanted to mention...a couple of people here have disquised soffits buy putting a thin piece of venear veneear veneer? (thin wood LOL) on the soffit, base and front and added trim to the ceiling and the bottom edge all done in the same color of the cabs and the transformation is absolutely amazing! You should look into the FKB (maybe someone remembers a name or two...they're amazing) Did I mention I think they're amazing LOL

And I'd kill that wall, and perhaps do a half wall to separate the spaces? maybe eat up a bit of that living area with a dining area defined by the half wall or even pillars (which helps on resale because you can call it a separate room even if they really aren't).

but if you do nothing else...you've already done a great job for your resale issue. and probably made yourself a much better functioning kitchen. i really do like it!

Yes, so many people have given me so much hope and wisdom that some day, I'll be brave enough to gel stain my cabinets.

My cabinets are similar to yours, and I'm not that sure about the process of sanding in the corners, etc.
Per celticmoon: "Sand LIGHTLY, just a scuffing really. Just enough to break the finish and give it some tooth, no more than a minute a door."

Thank you very much.
Amanda

Any other tips, Projectsneverend??

My process:
Remove doors. Remove hardware. We did leave hinges on and taped them off. (DH was afraid he'd never get them back on and didn't want to mess with getting new -- I picked my battles and went with it! ;)

I lightly sanded mostly using sanding sponges which allowed me to get into the cut-outs better. My doors were VERY shiny so I sanded enough to get the shine off. Then tack clothed them, then mineral spirits.

I put on a thick layer of General Finishes Gel Stain - JAVA. This stuff is so awesome. Then I wiped off. I left it on pretty thick... too thick. If I was to do it over I would definitely wipe off more because it took a loooong time to dry. I was trying to skip steps but I think 2 or 3 thin coats would have been better. It was a rainy weekend, too, so drying was tough in the first place.

DH had rigged up a way for me to hang the doors by the hinges so I hung them to dry which enabled me to do fronts and backs. When they were finally dry I did a thin layer of General Finishes Gel Clear Coat. I spread it on until it all looked wet but wiped away any drips. Once dry I very lightly sanded, then tack clothed, then we put the doors back on. I did another clear coat with the doors up and left the doors open to dry.
I've done a few touch ups here and there with a stain and a clear coat.

I would highly recommend general finishes gel stain! I babied the cabs for a few days but my 3 and 5 year old kiddos have not and the color seems to be holding up perfectly.

The plate rack - we needed to do something with the space above the micro since the doors would not fit back on. I measured it and ordered cheap plate racks from Target to fit across the space. I stained them to match and DH screwed them in. It was really too simple.

Our granite was about $2300. We used a granite slab from an installer's shop which saved us about $500, supposedly. I LOVE my granite.

Thanks for the brick compliments, also. I painted that quite a long time ago and have debated ever since about ripping it out and putting in a real backsplash. But I do like the simplicity of it and it all seems to tie together now.

Igloochic - I'm not sure what you mean with the trim... I've seen it where they put wood fronts on the soffits to make them look like cabs but I'm not clear here. Do you mean there would be a trim piece on top of the cab, then painted soffit, then another trim piece?

I think the wall is going to come out end of summer. Yikes. Another project in the making. Then we'll have to figure out new flooring.

By the time we're done with this house - I'm not going to want to leave! :)

Thanks again for all of the nice compliments. It's really hard for me to get good pics of the cabs and everyone that has seen them irl says my pics don't do justice!

I love this site!

Any suggestions? Stripping would be a night mare because it has a pop-up leaf that is in 2 pieces...

Thanks and congrats!

Any suggestions? Stripping would be a night mare because it has a pop-up leaf that is in 2 pieces...

Thanks and congrats!

I cannot see a reason why you shouldn't do your table. I would just make sure to use several coats of the top coat at the end. And make sure not to rush the drying process. Patience is key.

General Finishes is great, and so is Old Masters. Whatever you do, do NOT use the Minwax brand. It just doesn't work the same.

Good luck.

And of course, even though this is an old thread....that kitchen looks great!

Since it gets lots of washing with soap and water, would you rec the GF top coat or can I use Aqua Zar on the GF gel stain?

I need tough! LOL